Manchester United monitor Jack Butland with a view to possible summer move for Birmingham keeper

In the frame: United are interested in the promising young goalkeeper Jack ButlandPhoto: ACTION IMAGES

By John Percy and Jeremy Wilson

7:00AM BST 10 Apr 2012

Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, sent his goalkeeping coach, Eric Steele, to make a personal check on Butland in Cheltenham’s 1-0 defeat at Rotherham on Monday.

Butland, who made his debut for the England Under-21s last year, is on his second loan spell with League Two Cheltenham and has also been regularly watched by Arsenal this season.

The 19-year-old has represented England at every level up to the under-21s but is still yet to make a first-team appearance for Birmingham.

Chris Hughton, the Birmingham manager, is expecting serious interest in the summer and the club are prepared to sell Butland if they receive a suitable offer.

Queens Parks Rangers must base their appeal over Shaun Derry’s sending-off against Manchester United solely on his challenge on Ashley Young and not whether the England winger was offside at the time of the incident.

QPR have furiously accused Young of diving to win the contentious first-half penalty in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat, with their sense of injustice only heightened by the fact that Young was in an offside position.

Mark Hughes, the QPR manager, confirmed his club’s intention to appeal but the fact that Young was offside will not be deemed relevant by the Football Association, which must simply judge whether Derry’s challenge warranted a straight red card.

The dismissal was the seventh suffered by QPR this season. Hughes said he was “desperately disappointed” with referee Lee Mason’s performance.

“There was minimal contact and the referee has bought it,” said Hughes.